In Poland, archaeologists have discovered several peculiar burial sites dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries, where skeletons were placed in unusual positions with a sickle placed across their necks or hips. These sites have been dubbed “vampire cemeteries” and have captured the attention of researchers due to their unique burial practices and the underlying spiritual beliefs.
Belief in Vampires During the Medieval Period
While working at a site near Pien, Poland, archaeologists unearthed a female skeleton believed to be linked to the vampire panic in Eastern Europe over 200 years ago.
According to Heritage Daily, reports of vampires flooded across Europe in the 18th century, along with exhumations to stake and nail suspected “bloodsuckers” among the dead.
This grave dates back to the 17th century, before the vampire scare reached its peak. However, according to experts, those who buried this unidentified young woman made every effort to ensure she would not return from the dead.
Professor Dariusz Polinski of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland explained, based on the position of the body and the sickle, we believe the purpose of this burial was to decapitate the woman if she attempted to rise from the grave to terrorize the living.
“The sickle was not laid flat but placed at the neck so that if the deceased tried to get up, her head would be cut off or injured. The padlock on the toe symbolizes the end of a stage in her life, unable to return. Perhaps people at that time suspected she was a vampire,” Polinski told the Daily Mail.
The mythology of the undead in Eastern Europe has been recorded since the 11th century. In some regions, the belief was so strong that it led to hysteria among the populace. This resulted in numerous accusations of “vampirism” against those who died under unusual circumstances, particularly by suicide.
Social hysteria became so intense that by the late 17th century, bizarre burial customs were adopted across Poland to combat the “resurgence” of vampires, with many bodies mutilated after death. To prevent the dead from rising, people decapitated or dismembered corpses, buried them face down, burned them, and smashed them with stones.
Not only in Poland, but also in some villages in early medieval Russia, suspected vampire corpses were exhumed and destroyed by cremation, decapitation, or staking through the heart. In Germany and the western Slavic regions, suspected “vampire” bodies were decapitated and placed between the feet or away from the body.
Vampire or Witch?
Interestingly, the “female vampire” discovered by the Nicolaus Copernicus University research team had a silk cap on her head – a luxury item in the 17th century. This suggests that the deceased seemingly had a high social status within her community.
Regarding why she was buried in such a manner, Polinski speculated that it was due to her unusually prominent front teeth, which made her appearance distinct enough to be superstitiously regarded by locals as a witch or “vampire.”
This supports recent theories that those labeled as “vampires” at that time were not strangers or newcomers to the town but were local residents.
A similar discovery in the northwest region of Poland a few years ago also provided some insights into the methods and reasons why residents conducted these peculiar burials.
According to the Smithsonian magazine, in 2014, researchers discovered different skeletons in a graveyard in northwest Poland, each with a sickle placed on the body.
After conducting biochemical analyses of the bones, they made a notable discovery: the six “vampire” bodies were from the area, not strangers, whom the local townspeople were always wary of.
It is challenging for researchers to determine the origins of the “vampire” labeling, but the lead author of the study, Lesley Gregoricka, hypothesized that residents might have suspected the initial victims of cholera, a widespread disease in Europe at that time, to be blood-sucking demons.
He stated, “Post-medieval people did not understand how diseases spread or the scientific explanations for these epidemics. Cholera and the deaths from it were attributed to the supernatural, in this case, vampires.”
The placement of the sickle around the bodies of the deceased was similarly explained. They served to protect the living from the undead, but they were also used as a way to protect the deceased from evil forces.
Researchers told the Daily Mail, “According to folklore, the sickle protected women during childbirth, protected children, and the dead against evil spirits. It also played a role in rituals set up to counteract black magic and witches.”
Currently, the skeleton of the female vampire has been sent to a university in Torun for further archaeological research.
